Ira Chaleff wrote a book about followers, The Courageous Follower, and I love the following quote:

• All important social accomplishments require complex group effort, and therefore, leadership and followership. Both are necessary in the pursuit of a common purpose. Some believe that influence in the leader-follower relationship is largely one way. This is far from true. Followers have great capacity to influence the relationship. (p. 14)

Just look around you at work today and watch this play out.  Their inspired committment or lackluster compliance can mean the difference between success and failure.

Fascinating…

A reader passed along this video from YouTube which I think is a nice motivational piece for a workshop, retreat and so forth. See what you think…

I came across this quote by Joanne Ciulla in her book Ethics: The Heart of Leadership and I just love it. It nicely captures a challenging distinction as we judge leaders. We can all think of individuals who were one or the other – what may be less common is people who embody both – can you think of any?

• In order for the statement ‘she is a good leader’ to be true, it must be true that she is effective and that she is ethical. The question of what constitutes a good leader lies at the heart of the public debate on leadership. We want our leaders to be good in both ways. It’s easy to judge if they are effective, but more difficult to judge if they are ethical, because there is some confusion over what factors are relevant to making this kind of assessment.

Some of you may have had a strong response one way or another to my question about Obama yesterday.  I like how Bruce Avolio put it in his book, Full Leadership Development:

• “The true and most accurate  interpretation of leadership always rests in the ‘eye of the beholder’”

Leadership is socially constructed. It is in the eye of the beholder. What is “leader” in one person’s eye is “murderer” in anothers. I guess it depends on what side you are on.

History will tell, but it would seem (regardless of your politics) President Obama is on the cusp of this:

• “The five dimensions of authentic leadership: pursuing purpose with passion, practicing solid values, leading with heart, establishing connected relationships, demonstrating self-discipline. Authentic leaders are genuine people who are true to themselves and to what they believe. Rather than letting the expectations of others guide them, they are prepared to be their own person and go their own way. As they develop as authentic leaders they are more concerned about serving others than they are about their own success or recognition” (Bill George, Authentic Leadership).

In the face of skepticism, criticism and so forth it looks as though he is going for a vote. Politics as usual or authenticity? You decide…